Doing Whatever It Takes Ch. 2

Doing Whatever It Takes

By

Brimmingbelly04

CHAPTER TWO - Rumble In the Courtroom

The whole point of Quincy coming to pick Kyle up had been to avoid inconveniences… When they arrived at the courthouse, the drop-off area up front was blocked off, reserved for the arrival of some VIP, which meant even Kyle couldn't use his courthouse credentials to access the now restricted area.

Instead, he was forced to wait as Quincy worked his way around to the side of the enormous building and found a place to pull out of traffic since Kyle wasn't capable of "hopping" out of the car at the moment… Much like getting in, getting dressed and pretty much every and anything else he had to do now, it was a process.

Once he was back on his feet and had both bags slung over his shoulders again, the junior lawyer had to waddle almost an entire block back to the front of the courthouse, and then trudge up a seemingly infinite number of granite steps. As he made his way, Kyle received plenty more double takes and stares. He used to turn heads thanks to his handsome face, trimmed and toned figure and immaculate clothing whereas now, all eyes were on him because of his enormous belly and breasts,all of which led the way ahead as he lumbered back down the block and then up the steps.

A frequent visitor to the courthouse, he nodded at fellow attorneys as he slowly ascended towards the building. He knew many of them from courtroom engagement and some from his days back in law school. Despite Kyle's current condition and mood, he didn't mind saying hello to others so long as it wasn't one of them who just the sight of, made his skin crawl. But of course, right then and there was when the expectant attorney ran into one of his least favorite people in the world, and literally at that…

Kyle had made it two-thirds of the way up the seemingly endless steps and was happy to be in the home stretch as he was truly struggling to keep his breaths slow and even, even using the technique he'd learned from the online birthing classes he'd been "attending." The courthouse was always a busy place and the steps could be a challenge for a "regular" person to navigate as groups tended to congregate on them, mostly attorneys catching up with one another, or trying to settle before they went before a judge.

As such, adding to the already arduous task of making the steep ascent, Kyle had to steer his extra-wide load through and around throngs of people. He thought he was in the clear and therefore, let his guard down, which bam… was when the inevitable happened…

He'd seen the group off to his left and thought he'd had enough room to eek by without contact or collision, but the man closest to him had just laughed loudly at something a colleague had said as the group simultaneously started to disband. It must've been something really funny because it caused the guy to double over and start clapping his hands as he continued to cackle… The longer he laughed, the more annoying the sound became but also, more familiar…  By the time Kyle realized he knew the man the unpleasant sound was coming from, it was too late to avoid him as he continued clapping and cackling while now stepping backwards…

"I love it! Love, love, love it! That was a good one!" He said between fits of laughter. "Send that to me, will ya, Frank? Ha ha ha, oooh, shit!" He exclaimed as he backed right into the prominent left side of Kyle's pregnancy.

Fortunately, the doubly pregnant attorney had just seen the imminent collision coming, though he didn't give a verbal warning as he'd still been trying to figure out how to avoid making his presence known. Unfortunately, he hadn't been able to come up with a way in time, leaving him no choice but to have what he knew would be a nails on the chalkboard-esque encounter with his former college roommate, Christian.

One of his least favorite people spun around with an annoyed look on his face as if to ask without words, who in their right mind would let me run into them?! He quickly realized who'd he'd made contact with and his frown transitioned to a smirk as he stepped back and looked his old roommate up and down.

"Kyle!" He said all syrupy. "Wow, look at you!"

"Christian…"

"I literally can't help but notice you're still pregnant!"

"How very observant of you… No wonder you're such a good paralegal."

Christian rolled his eyes and laughed that annoying laugh of his, making Kyle want to dig a pen out of his bag and puncture both of his eardrums with it. At one point, the two had been friends, good ones actually, but as their schooling progressed, they realized they were two of the smartest in their class… As soon as that happened, their friendship ended and their rivalry began.

Though it sucked living with someone he quickly grew to loathe, the negativity helped Kyle power ahead. There was no way he was going to let Christian win the war now brewing between them, and he didn't, landing a job right out of school with Chad and Steven. The last he'd heard, Christian had found a job at a firm almost as good as his, but had been forced to start at the bottom of the totem pole and had yet to put his admittedly formidable legal skills to full use.

"You may already be a junior attorney, Kyle, but let's face it… You're still just a bitch boy like me, the difference is I only have to carry my guys' briefcases and paperwork, not their fucking kids!" Christian snickered.

There wasn't anything Kyle could say in defense because what Christian had said was true. Surprisingly, after being asked and agreeing to carry for Chad and Steven, news of their arrangement quickly spread around the legal community, making Kyle fairly sure his bosses had shared the information themselves in an effort to impress on others that their employees were willing to do anything to work for them. Their junior associate/surrogate would've preferred their arrangement to remain private seeing as it didn't paint him in the best light, but at the time, he'd been so enamored by the chance of a quick promotion, he found himself on his way to the fertility specialist and had his legs up in the stirrups before he knew it.

"Jesus, you've gotten big!" Christian continued with a shake of his head. "No…" he shook it some more. "Enormous, actually! Are Steven and Chad making you carry till the kids are ready for preschool?!"

Kyle smirked. "No, asshole, but they are paying me well… I make a hell of a lot more than a paralegal does, that's for sure!"

Christian shrugged. "That's only fair. Between the grocery bill you must be running and the small fortune you must be paying your tailor to keep you from splitting seems, I'm sure the money comes in handy."

"Oh, it does," his pregnant, former roommate snidely confirmed. "But best believe, there's still plenty left over after. Unlike you, I can afford to buy shoes every season," he said as he looked to the side and down and eyed the loafers Christian had on, which he recognized from the previous fall fashion season.

"Oh, whatever…" the opposing counsel groaned. "At least I can say when I make it, it won't because I was my bosses' baby factory!"

"Baby factory and more!" Kyle replied, hating how stupid he sounded as he did. "See, the thing is, Chad and Steven actually value my skills! They don't just have me running files to and from court for them."

"Only because you can't run!" Christian cackled again like a hyena. "Hell, you can barely walk!"

"Watch me!" The pregnant junior attorney said as he adjusted his bags before he continued up the rest of the steps.

It was absolute murder on his back not to waddle, but he powered through the pain knowing Christian was watching him, probably staring at his pregnancy-fattened ass. Kyle had always suspected Christian had the hots for him and that he was jealous he'd been the first to find a serious boyfriend. Given his current appearance, he knew his standing with his nemesis had dropped a few notches, but oh well, screw him…

When he finally reached the top step, Kyle wasn't free just yet. Before he could enter the court house, he still had to subject himself to security. Since he was there so often, most of the guards knew him and who he worked for and didn't make him go through the usually stringent checks, but it was still yet another process to contend with. Just as Christian had, the guard that checked him in just had to comment on the pregnant man's size and by then, it was all the frazzled junior attorney could do to keep himself from flipping out and getting his very pregnant ass hauled off to jail.

By the time he made it through the metal detector, Kyle was already over the day and yet it hadn't even really started… Chad and Steven were waiting outside the courtroom for him. The moment he saw them, Kyle's heart beat even harder and faster than it already was. The simple sight of them made him furious since it was because of them he was presently so big and miserable…

As he approached, the small crowd huddled around his bosses spotted him and began to murmur amongst themselves, drawing Steven and Chad's attention. Chad, the leader of the two and the head of the firm he'd inherited from his father, was the first to turn and address Kyle, which he did with a sweet smile the junior attorney now knew actually meant absolutely nothing.

"Kyle!" Chad beamed, making a big show of affection, solely put on for the people standing around him. "Glad you could make it… We were expecting you five minutes ago!"

"No one told Quincy or I the drop-off area would be blocked," the pregnant lawyer replied flatly. "Had you or Steven thought to tell me, I would've planned accordingly, but I'm here now, so…"

"How was your ride in?" Steven asked as he stepped forward.

"Just great. Is the room ready?"

He nodded. "We were just waiting for…"

"See you inside then," Kyle said as he waddled around the group, leaving it and his bosses surprised in his wide wake.

"I don't like that!" Steven shook his head at his husband as they followed their junior associate/surrogate in. "Who does he think he is, entering before us?! Absolutely ridiculous! We always go in first!"

Chad nodded in agreement. "We'll talk to him about it later and remind him of his place. Right now, we need to focus on the task at hand, which is winning this case!"

"We won't win today… This is just the arraignment."

"I'm aware, but how's the time we lay the framework for the case," Chad replied as he followed behind, taking his husband's lead one of very few times.

"I still can't believe he stormed in ahead of us!" Steven said under his breath as they entered the room where justice would eventually be handed down.

"It's gotta be the hormones… God knows he's big enough that they just must be flowing through him!"

"Right?! I don't know how I didn't notice, but he looks twice as big as he did last week!"

"Oh, don't be ridiculous, Steven!" Chad scolded. "Yes, he's big, but he's not that big!"

"Well he's big enough people are going to start asking us why he's still coming to court! Did you think of that?"

"Honey… They've already been asking!"

"They have?" Steven asked in quiet surprise. "What did you tell them?"

"I told them he insists on coming in."

"Which he hasn't… Don't you think it's time we tell him to stay home? Chad… The babies are due in less than two weeks, but he looks like he should've given birth to them a month ago!"

"Which he could've, but he hasn't," the lead partner snickered. "Kyle's done a good job, wouldn't you say? I told you we made the right decision going with him."

Steven didn't have time to reply as by then, they'd reached the front of the courtroom and moved to the side Kyle and his giant belly and breasts were already occupying. Somehow still managing to do his real job almost as quickly as he used to be able to, their surrogate had already laid out the paperwork they were going to need in front of their spots and was now sitting off to the side, completely overwhelming his chair.

"Like I said, we'll deal with him later," Chad whispered. "Right now, we need to focus on getting Ms. Rosendale's son out on bail."

"What's his name again?"

"I don't remember! Don't you?!"

"No! That's why I asked! Anyway, Kyle will know…"

"Yes, but I don't care to speak with him at the moment!" Chad hissed. "Just check the paperwork!"

Steven grumbled to himself as he rifled through the stack of papers Kyle had left in front of his chair. "This case is totally beneath us, you know that, right?"

"Of course, I do, but Ms. Rosedale is one of our best clients, so we had to take it."

"It's beneath us!" Steven insisted. "We don't have to take every case, no matter who the client is! I'm not even comfortable representing what's his name!" He said as he continued looking through the paperwork. "William, that's it. I'm sure he did it!"

"As am I, but that's not the point. The point is earning that million dollar retainer his mother pays us!" Chad said through clenched teeth, forcing himself to smile as Ms. Rosedale entered the courtroom. "And then there's all the hours we'll be able to bill her!"

"I'm aware how practicing law works… It doesn't make me feel any better."

"Who cares about feelings?" Steven's husband scoffed. "Wasn't the point of having Kyle get pregnant for us to avoid you getting all emotional?"

"Oh, sweet husband…" Steven tisked. "You should know better than anyone that 'emotional' isn't a word in my vocabulary anymore."

"Believe me, I do."

"Some parents we're gonna make!"

"That'll be different," Chad replied, hoping he was right. "The babies will love us and we'll love them."

"Right…"

He shook his head. "Let's save the arguing for when court's actually in session.

Steven rolled his eyes. "Like we always do, which is why we never solve anything between us!"

"We're not doing this now. You're gonna throw me off my game," Chad replied through still clenched teeth as their client was led into the courtroom in handcuffs through a side door.

"And we can't have that, can we..? How terrible would it be if we lost a case for once!" His husband scoffed.

"I swear to God, Steven… If you don't…"

"All rise!" The bailiff called, thankfully bringing the couple's personal argument to an end. "The Honorable Judge…"

The morning was a total blue for Kyle. He couldn't bring himself to look at the men whose children he carried, so he kept his gaze focused on his notebook at his far end of the counsel's table. Per usual, the star attorneys used their skills along with every other trick they knew, to get their client's bail set at an amount much lower than his loaded mother could've paid, making it another successful day. Chad and Steven were too busy congratulating themselves and their client to notice how much Kyle struggled, not only to collect his stuff, but raise himself from his chair.

They didn't notice till the bailiff approached and started to help. Only then did they stop their celebrating and rush over, quickly acting as if Kyle was the center of their universe, the way he they actually should've treated him considering what he was doing for them…

"Thanks, but we've got him," Chad smiled at the concerned bailiff as he waved him away. "Come over here, Steven and help me get Kyle up."

"No."

"Oh, sorry, Kyle… Do you need a moment?" Steven asked as he wrapped his hand under Kyle's arm. "You must… Just…"

"Get your hand off me."

"Kyle..?" Steven laughed nervously.

"I said, get your hand off me!" The pregnant man repeated, a little louder, but not enough to cause a scene (yet, anyway.)

"I'm not sure what exactly's gotten into you, Kyle, but now isn't the time or place to…"

"Oh fuck off, Chad! Seriously!" Kyle suddenly spat out, making Steven let out a quiet gasp.

Chad on the other hand, wasn't so easily fazed… Instead of being shocked like his husband, he slowly backed away from the table and held his hands up in a show of surrender.

"You're obviously in a bad mood. We can talk about what's bothering you when we get back to the office, now come on… Quincy's waiting for us outside," he said as he moved to gather his things, beckoning Steven to follow suit.

Kyle didn't move. "I'm not coming back to the office," he announced from his seat.

Chad sighed. "I suppose we can give you the rest of the day off… We have the Chandrax case to go over, but…"

"I'm not taking the rest of the day off, I'm taking off period, till after I have the babies."

"Chad..?" Steven said with a look of surprise and concern as he turned towards his husband.

Before either of his bosses could respond, Kyle continued. Thanks to their complete disrespect for him, he'd regained his nerve and wasn't about to let them slow his roll…

"You guys have taken such complete and total advantage of me, it's ridiculous!" He hissed, keeping himself from getting too loud as there were still a few people in the courtroom, the bailiff included. "I've gone above and beyond at work, I haven't complained about anything or the crazy hours you make me keep…"

"That's part of being a lawyer," Chad smugly cut him off. "That's what you want to be, isn't it?"

"I already am one, and a damn good one at that! You guys are lucky to have me working for you, and it's time you and I all understand that!"

Chad shook his head. "I don't know where this outburst is coming from, but I certainly don't appreciate being spoken to like this!"

"Tough shit, Chad!" Kyle fired back. "You deserve it! I agreed to carry your kids because you made it seem like doing so would be a good career for me, but since then, you haven't made any mention as to my next step professionally, so I'm not sure what to think anymore? Why did I do this?"

"The same reason you do anything else you do: because we asked you to."

He shook his head. "You've got some nerve," he said as he stroked his belly, which had started to warp and wobble as his employers' children began to fidget from his agitation. "Yeah, you asked me to," Kyle admitted. "But why? Answer that!"

"Well…"

"Well!" He mocked.

"If you let me finish before cutting…"

This time it was Steven who cut Chad off, which he did so firmly by grabbing his husband's closest wrist tightly. "Maybe we should continue this somewhere else, when all of us are a little calmer?"

"Fine, you're right…" Chad huffed. "Go home, Kyle, and we'll talk tomorrow when you get in."

"I'm sorry..?" Kyle cocked his head. "Was I not clear about not coming in till after I have your damn kids and get my two weeks of paid leave?"

"I…"

"Did you know there are laws in place giving surrogates rights?" He continued. "I didn't know that till recently, which I'll admit, is on me, but I did some belated research and it turns out, our so-called agreement doesn't seem to be entirely legal…" he raised his brows.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Chad laughed as he rolled his eyes. "I drew it up and I think I would know what's legal and what's not!"

Kyle was lying. He actually had no idea what special rights surrogates had in their state, if any, and in his haste to get ahead in the corporate world, he honestly hadn't even looked at the contract he, Chad and Steven signed before doing so. But thanks to the training the pregnant junior lawyer had received from the couple he worked (and carried) for, he could tell he had them squirming in their fancy shoes and suits.

"Yeah, you'd think but honestly, I'm not so sure?" He shrugged. "I mean I know I'm just a junior attorney and all, but now that I've gone back and read over my copy of the agreement again, there's a few things I'm beginning to question…"

"Such as?" Steven wanted to know. Of course he did.

"We can discuss it tomorrow when I come to the office per your directive," his doubly pregnant subordinate/surrogate emphasized. "That'll give us all a chance to read over the agreement again, especially me."

"Alright, fine!" Chad suddenly shouting, drawing the attention of everyone else remaining in the room. "Go home and don't come in tomorrow, the day after, or the day after that! Stay home till you pop my kids out, while Steven and I pick up your slack!"

"That's fine by me," Kyle shrugged again. "If you find there's slack you need to pick up, it's your own fault for relying on me so much, which just goes to show that I really do deserve the promotion you've been dangling out in front of me, don't you think?"

"We'll certainly be open to discussing that too," Steven nodded as he pulled on his husband's wrist before leaning into his ear and hissing, "Let's go. Now!"

"That mother fucker…" Chad retorted as he reluctantly allowed himself to be dragged away.

"That mother fucker can hear you, and has our children inside him, so it's best we keep him on our good side, honey!"

"If he thinks I'm gonna promote him after this!!! I…"

"You know, Steven's right…" Kyle called after the retreating pair. "I can hear you…"

"Shut up. Right. Fucking now," Steven demanded of his husband. "Not another word till we get to the car!"

Kyle snickered. He had to to keep from crying as he looked down to find everything shaking, from his super-stretched womb to his hands resting on it. He'd done it, that's for sure… He'd told Chad and Steven enough was enough in so many words, and it seemed he'd made his point. As he struggled to stand under his own power, Kyle hoped he hadn't done too good a job doing so…

The extremely pregnant man was almost as full of relief and anxiety as he was babies. The entire cab ride home, all Kyle could do was replay what'd gone down after court and worry about the results. Hopefully, he'd solved the problem he and Wes both finally agreed he had, but there was also the possibility he'd just royally screwed himself job-wise. At least he made it home at a good time.

Better than good actually, as it wasn't even lunch time when Kyle waddled back into their apartment and set his bags down in the hall where they'd stay till he was ready to go back to work. Whenever that ended up being…

Anxious as he was, it almost entirely faded away as Kyle extracted himself from his suit coat, pants and shoes, kicking and tossing them aside without care of wrinkling or scuffing them. He planned on wearing much comfier clothes for the rest of the pregnancy.

Since it was a gift from Wes, Kyle took more care removing his tie. He made sure to roll it up nicely before turning to his side as he approached his armoire and put it back in its rightful place amongst the rest of his expansive and expensive neckwear collection. His shirt came off next, one strained button at a time, before joining his coat and pants on the floor. Standing in the middle of his room in just his socks, underwear, belly band and bra, Kyle still had several pieces of clothing to remove and yet he hadn't felt so free in a long time.